Last-minute libations: Alternative drinks to toast with this Christmas
Bored of fizz? Allow us to provide some drink-spiration with an array of under-the-radar gins, tequilas, wines and canned cocktails – plus brilliant food pairings for a truly showstopping soirée
When you think of Christmas, what tipple springs to mind? Champagne, prosecco and mulled wine are all classic options, as well as creamier, more indulgent serves such as Baileys on ice and espresso martinis, and, of course, Seventies cocktails like the Snowball. But the darker nights and colder weather do not mean that lighter spirits such as tequila, gin, sake and even rosé wine become redundant. So this year, don’t just reach mindlessly for the fizz this Christmas (although, if sparkly is your thing, we’ve rounded up the best bubbles here). Instead, discover how to serve every tipple in your drinks cabinet in style with tips and tricks from some of our favourite luxury drink brands and the best cocktail bars in London. Chin, chin – and happy holidays.
Gin for Christmas
Served as a spritz with tonic or neat in a martini, gin has endless options. It’s a tipple that Samet Ali, director of bars at award-winning Covent Garden bar Oriole, thinks shouldn’t be underestimated this season. “Gin’s vibrant and aromatic botanicals bring a festive flair to any celebration. Many gins evoke the season’s spirit with notes of juniper, warming spices, and citrus, which are reminiscent of Christmas markets and winter spices. Its versatility means it works equally well in refreshing aperitifs or cosy, warming cocktails like a gin hot toddy.”
And for food pairings? “Gin’s bright citrus and herbal notes work really well with fruit tarts, my favourite choices will probably be lemon or raspberry tart,” says Ali. “It pairs exceptionally well with salmon due to its clean, herbaceous, and citrus-forward profile, which complements the rich, oily texture of the fish without overpowering its delicate flavours. Its qualities act as a palate cleanser for preparations like salmon sashimi or nigiri, enhancing the subtle sweetness and umami of the fish.”
Cotswolds Hedgerow Gin
Inspired by the Cotswolds countryside and its plethora of foraging opportunities, Cotswolds Gin Distillery has kept things rather close to home with its hedgerow-infused gin. Featuring notes of blackberries, plums and a touch of creamy vanilla, combine this with an effervescent tonic water and fresh cranberries for the ultimate Christmas cocktail.
Tanqueray No.Ten Gin
Looking to spritz up your Christmas soirée? Evoking notes of lemon, lime and grapefruit, Tanqueray’s posh pine and juniper spirit is perfect for those aforementioned cured fish canapés – think smoked salmon blinis topped with caviar and cured trout with fresh sourdough on Christmas morning.
Renais Festive Lantern gin
Created, designed and inscribed by Renais co-founder and actress Emma Watson, the Festive Lantern Edition encapsulates the brand’s sustainability ethos by encouraging drinkers to upcycle its sleeve packaging, which can be used to create hanging tree decorations. Tasting notes includes fresh citrus, juniper, warming spices, and floral notes – perfect for a festive gin and tonic. Be quick, as there are only a limited number of bottles available worldwide.
Retribution Gin
Hailing from Somerset, gins don’t get much woodier than Retribution Gin. Featuring spruce and herbaceous notes, pair with a wedge of orange and tonic for a gin and tonic with a difference this Christmas – or use to create an at-home negroni. You won’t regret it.
Rosé wine for Christmas
A wine that is easily more synonymous with spring and summer than wintry festive nights, there are several brands pioneering a pink Christmas this year – and who are we to argue? Those serving seafood this Christmas should look to a light and bright rosé wine to accompany their oysters, scallops, salmon and more. "Crisp, light, and utterly irresistible, [rosé wine] is gloriously refreshing when served ice-cold – the perfect aperitif or a divine companion to seafood. Think smoked salmon draped over blinis with a whisper of caviar and crème fraîche,” says Elle Caring, founder of Lady A rosé.
Pro tip: Caring suggests taking your rosé out of the fridge earlier than you might think in order to use it as an accompaniment for a more indulgent side dish. She adds: “Allow it to warm slightly, and its versatility takes centre stage. Pair it with a buttery brie and cranberry pastry, or let it sing alongside any dish – be it delicate and light or sumptuously indulgent meat or fish.”
Lady A rosé
A stalwart serve across Soho House’s array of private members’ clubs in the capital and beyond, Lady A rosé is a traditional Provençal tipple produced by Chateau La Coste. The bottle itself, designed by Damien Hirst, is centrepiece-worthy, while the refreshing blend of Provençal syrah, grenache, cinsault and merlot creates a sun-kissed, elegant wine that is so pale it could convert even the most discerning of rosé drinkers.
Amie
Amie is a London-born rosé launched during lockdown by husband-and-wife duo Abbie Roden and Will Sandbach who spotted a gap in the market to bring an on-trend rosé to the UK. The couple source their organic rosé directly from Languedoc in the South of France, and it’s made from a blend of organic grenache and cinsault to result in a wine that’s light and crisp with peach tasting notes. If, like us, you can’t get enough, enjoy it by the bottle in the chic surrounds of Eccleston Yards throughout the year too.
Folc
Made down in Kent, this is proof indeed that Provençal-style rosé can be made to sublime standards on British soil. With a blend of pinot noir, pinot meunier, chardonnay, bacchus, and schönburger, there are notes galore of summer berries, ripe peach and elderflower on the nose, with even a hint of strawberry jam in the finish. This is a truly fantastic English wine whose cork should be popped with festive conviction.
Fattoria La Vialla rose wine
In terms of our vineyard of the year for 2024 and, for the second year running, the garlands and bouquets must go to Fattoria la Vialla in Tuscany. Once again, this small but hugely ambitious vineyard has wowed us again with the consistency, elan and piquancy of its range of wines. You really can’t go wrong with anything from this family-run operation, but its rosé, produced with montepulciano cerasuolo grapes and grown using organic methods, is one of the most sophisticated, spine-tinglingly gorgeous of its kind on the planet.
Red wine for Christmas
For many, red wine is a must at Christmas. But if you’re still on the fence, allow us to prove why this dark, moody and rich drink needs to be in your wine cellar in abundance this year. Toby Amphlett, brand ambassador for esteemed wine producer Penfolds, says: “Red wines pair beautifully with so many festive foods due to their rich, complex flavours and exceptional versatility. Whether it’s a juicy roast, a decadent cheese board, or a sweet-glazed ham, red wines really bring out the best in each dish, making every celebration feel even more special.”
Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz
Robust and generously flavoured, Bin 28 Shiraz is intense and full of ripe fruit flavour. Regarded by wine experts as the bottle that put Australian shiraz on the map, this wine has aromas of plum, vanilla and baking spices, which lead to flavours of dark raspberry, chocolate and cola on the palate. It’s a powerful and decadent red wine so best paired with a beef centrepiece, especially steak or a sharing-style beef Wellington.
Babylonstoren Nebukadnesar 2021
A quintessential South African red, this Bordeaux blend is a flagship wine of Babylonstoren. Nebukadnesar was so popular upon its release that it swiftly ranked among the top 100 wines coming out of the region in 2016, partly thanks to its sophisticated mix of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and malbec, and partly because it has been matured in new French oak barrels for 23 months prior to release. Expect notes of thyme and blackcurrant.
Vinha do Fava Reserva 2022
This wine was so sought-after upon its release, it sold out within a couple of hours in 2018. Now, the Casa Ermelinda Freitas estate – one of the most lauded vineyards in Portugal – has plenty under its roof to keep drinkers happy. So, why is it so popular? It’s fruity, rich and smooth – expect notes of raspberry jam and you won’t be disappointed.
Opi Malbec Reserve 2022
Awarded best malbec in Argentina – no mean feat in this new world wine haven – with its debut vintage, Opi makes a mean malbec, packing a punch with old-vine, oak-aged ripe black fruit that screams Christmas to us. Pair with roast beef, mature cheese or game such as venison.
White wine for Christmas
Brits drink white wine by the bucket-load at Christmas: a recent poll by Lunzer Wine found that it's the festive tipple of choice for more than 21.8 per cent of drinkers. Chardonnay, sauvignon blanc and pinot grigio are all classic choices, but we’ve also found some interesting fruity tipples and sparkling varieties to whet your whistle. According to JJ Buckley Fine Wines, top food pairings with a glass of white include lobster, roast pork, a fragrant curry and plenty of antipasti. Cheers to that.
Morande Terrarum Semillion
Getting tired of Chilean whites? We adore them in this country for their very fair price points and reliability but few of us know just how long Chilean producers have been at the viticulture game. The Maule Valley, in the southern half of the country, was one of the first areas in Chile to be planted to vine, with a history stretching back to the start of Spanish colonisation. The Morande Terrarum Semillon is a new best friend for your Christmas dinner starter of smoked salmon and prawns and is perhaps the definitive good Chilean white, with that fresh acidity and stone fruit notes. It’s very, very hard to spend a tenner on wine better than this.
Amelia Chardonnay
Since being launched in 1993, Amelia has been a go-to for showstopping serves that never look out of place on your dinner table. Hailing from the Quebrada Seca vineyard in Chile, its proximity to the Pacific Ocean gives a fresh minerality and is a perfect pairing for smoked salmon and creamy cheeses like brie and camembert. Aged for 12 months in French oak barrels, this wine is dominated by white flowers, pears and flint.
Rhythm Alphonso Mango
For a different type of white, Rhythm’s Alphonso mango wine makes for a lovely pre-meal tipple. Made with chenin blanc, there’s just the slightest sashaying hip of tartness to the palate though the main harmonies are ripe and fruity rather than cloyingly sweet. Serve it very chilled in a tall glass and start planning for next year’s holidays while you drink — suddenly Goa and Gujarat seem infinitely more tempting than Greece or Gran Canaria.
Lazar Pearl Blanc de Blanc 2018
We’ve long been fans of the Humble Grape wine bar group, whose half dozen London branches are scattered from Crouch End to Canary Wharf. Its Modern Christmas Case (£165) is a well-curated selection of lesser known but notable wines the team have discovered on their oenophile journeys this year. Standouts in the pack include the Lazar, Pearl Blanc de Blanc from Macedonia, a truly gorgeous drink which has spent a whopping three years on the lees.
Whisky for Christmas
A classic choice for Christmas, whisky is more than just your old man’s tipple, and can be enjoyed neat, with a drop of Highland spring water or within cocktails to add a new level of flavour. A Scottish favourite is the hot toddy – whisky and a squeeze of honey and hot lemon juice – designed to soothe a hoarse throat after the previous night’s antics, or a classic old fashioned. Think of this as your digestif or nightcap drink, and pair with rich flavours of chocolate, cheese, dried fruit and nuts to allow the peaty taste of the whisky to slice right through.
Macallan 30-Year-Old Sherry Oak scotch whisky
Celebrating its 200th anniversary in 2024, Macallan proves that patience pays off with its 30-year-old full bodied whisky. It’s also the highest age statement in the brand’s Sherry Oak range, and has been hand-selected from a pool of 200 casks. We love the flavours of figs, dates, ginger and orange – fragrant and rich just in time for the festive season.
Ferg and Harris white port finish whisky
And so to Scotland; a nation that holds an eternal, dram-shaped advantage over its UK neighbours when it comes to Christmas drinking. Ferg and Harris is a hardy, itinerant centurion in the world of whisky. This year saw it launch five different creations sourced from distillers in Islay and Speyside – and the brightest star among them is a 15-year-old Craigellachie matured in an Amontillado sherry butt. It was then divided and poured into two different finishing casks, one virgin oak and one white port. Both are gorgeously smooth whiskies, imbued with honey and caramel, but the one finished in white port just has the edge, with its very slight tickle of ginger and spices.
The Last Drop 55-year-old Tomintoul single malt Scotch whisky
Fancy splashing the cash this Christmas? Opt for something seriously old such as The Last Drop’s very special single malt. As part of the 2024 collection, this show-stopping 55-year-old Tomintoul single malt – the brand’s oldest to date – was distilled in 1968 and is one of only 582 bottles in the world. Expect notes of dark fruits, sweet raisins and fruitcake – it’s like Christmas cake in a bottle.
Luzhou Laojiao National Cellar 1573 Baiju
For those who don’t mind straying from tradition, consider Luzhou Laojiao’s baijiu for your drawing room digestifs. Possibly the world’s most popular spirit you’ve never heard of, it boasts 6,000 years of Chinese heritage and is best served over ice to savour the sophisticated herbal and umami flavours.
Sake for Christmas
A popular gift and a jolly tipple to drink at Christmas in Japan, sake definitely has enough wow-factor and versatility to be served during your festive celebrations in the UK. “There are many different styles of sake appropriate for the festive period and I would recommend a sparkling sake,” says Anthony Yukio, head sake sommelier at Kioku Bar. “If I were to name one in particular it would be Shichiken Mori No Kanade from Yamanashi Meijo. It has a unique acid profile, the most wonderful creamy mousse and will go excellent with a roast turkey – it’s almost like drinking an apple pie with a mascarpone Chantilly.
“Sake will go with almost any food. There is a saying in Japan that ‘sake doesn’t fight with food’. Sake can pair with light delicate foods like sashimi and salad, but also rich heavy foods with lots of umami such as cured meats and cheese.”
Akashi-Tai Honjozo Tokubetsu Sake
A good entry-level sake for those wishing to dip their toe in, this is a light bodied and dry spirit, with tropical notes. Crafted by the Yonezawa family, which has brewed its small-batch sake by hand in Hyōgo since 1856, the process uses locally-sourced rice and natural spring water. Pair with sushi, grilled meats and tempura.
Toku Junmai Daiginjo sake
A super-premium Junmai Daiginjo sake, Toku is brewed in Hokkaido, the coldest city in Japan, and as a result creates a distinctly delicate taste with notes of banana, honeydew melon and peach complemented by creamier notes of baked apples, fresh bread and slow-cooked plums. It’s made with Yamada Nishiki rice and fermented in the region’s freezing conditions to create an extremely smooth serve that’s best enjoyed chilled at 5°C in a wine glass.
Ginjo Pearl Sparkling Sake
A light sparkling sake that could quite easily replace a glass of prosecco or champagne, this serve has been named after its pearl-like bubbles. Featuring notes of apples and pears, drink on its own or as a Pimms-style cocktail with a slice of cucumber, strawberry and mint.
Umami Japanese Sake 2018
Producing exactly what it says on the label, this sake is umami and rich, and therefore pairs perfectly with game or fish for Christmas. A flagship product by Chiba brewery, it’s crafted via a unique hot production method which leads to a full-bodied and complex drink, with earthy, caramel notes to finish.
Tequila for Christmas
"Tequila and mezcal are wonderful spirits to enjoy with friends and family during the festive period,” says Matthias Ingelmann, group bar manager at Kol Mezcaleria in Marylebone. “Especially small, artisanal brands that have variations from bottle to bottle, so you really capture the spirit of a special, unique moment with the ones closest to your heart.
“A very Mexican drink for the Christmas period is the Rompope, a drink similar to eggnog. I make mine with reposado tequila, Mexican corn liqueur (nixta) and a mix of egg yolk, condensed milk, double cream and a chilli to create a chocolate milk. I have my smoked salmon for lunch on Christmas day with a beautiful mineral blanco tequila, and flambé my Christmas pudding with a rich, full bodied mezcal.”
Don Julio 1942 Tequila
One for tequila connoisseurs, Don Julio 1942 Tequila is a small-batch Anejo Tequila, launched in 2002 to mark 60 years since the eponymous founder embarked on his tequila business. With notes of toffee, hazelnut and vanilla, this rich spirit evokes aromas of Turkish delight – a result of being aged in oak casks for up to two years. You certainly won’t mind shotting this come midnight…
818 Tequila Anejo
Taking its name from a suburban postcode of Los Angeles, home to founder and supermodel Kendall Jenner, this tequila is uncomplicated, has a relatively entry-level taste and is sustainable. Having been aged for a minimum of a year in French and American oak barrels, the sweet palate of vanilla, agave and caramel is perfect to be served neat.
Clase Azul Reposado Tequila
Another rather premium serve hails from the Mexican Jesus Maria region to create a 100 per cent agave tipple. Smooth and decadent, it won’t look out of place in your kitchen cabinet thanks to the hand-painted bottle in beautiful white and blue.
Casamigos Blanco Tequila
A classic choice to keep in your cabinet – and then whip out to get the party started – Casamigos Blanco Tequila is made via a unique process where the agave is roasted for 10 times before being fermented twice and rested for two months. The result? Fresh notes of lemon and grapefruit complemented by hints of agave, green peppers, and wildflowers.
Pre-made cocktails for Christmas
Ideal for when you’ve reached that point of being too sated with food to get up and mix more cocktails for guests over the festive period, canned cocktails have had a face-lift of late. No longer fear warm, separated, too-strong or too-sweet alcoholic mixes and welcome sophisticated, ready-to-serve cocktails that are far too good to be pushed to the back of the fridge. Discover our favourite cans and boxes below.
Wonderland Cocktails Of Christmas
Wonderland Cocktails make the most of the Brewdog spirits range to include a classic margarita, watermelon margarita, whisky sour, espresso martini, chocolate orange espresso martini and passionfruit martini in its Christmas pack. We’d recommend the espresso martini, which is very smooth and must be served very cold indeed, and the old fashioned: an unexpectedly professional tasting concoction with some mixologist standard aromas of spiced chocolate and oak-toasted whisky notes spooling out to give a vanilla and zesty orange finish on the tongue.
Mary Mary
Made with vodka distilled in the South Downs, Mary Mary is a new launch from London-based cocktail neophyte Lilly Andrews. Ideal for a punchy start to Christmas morning, or as a tonic to a bleary eyed Boxing Day afternoon, these come in two spice levels, both of which are more than adequately primped and readied with enough Worcestershire sauce (essential for the depth of taste) and a mixture of fresh chillies (for that tingly lift) to make you feel you’ve been given the gift the drink was always intended to deliver; that of a restorative pick-me-up that’s both classy and classless.
Moth Christmas feast pack
Moth has clearly heard our cries for something effortless but effective to serve guests this Christmas – and it’s for this reason it releases a Christmas Day Feast Pack once a year. Expect a pink gin fizz, negroni, old fashioned and bestselling espresso martini, all ready to toast in 10 seconds. Ta da.
Rapscallion Soda winter mix case
This Scottish beverage company is on a mission to redefine preconceptions of soda drinks – and therefore every can packs a punch. Pick from burnt lemon and dry lime to the innovative apple pie, but if you’re stuck for choice, we recommend the Winter Mix case. Featuring 12 cans, expect flavours of raspberry, rhubarb, and blueberry in a fun effervescent fashion that has been designed to utilise every bit of the late harvest. It’s like energy in a can.
Read more: The best Champagne and sparkling wine for Christmas
